THE Tourism Educators, Advocates and Movers (Team-Cebu) announced it has completed an audio-video presentation (AVP) to guide visitors to Cebu.
But, before they will endorse the DVD sample to the Department of Tourism (DOT), Team-Cebu founder Robert Lim Joseph said the organization will first endorse it to Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale, who chairs the Committee on Tourism and International Affairs, to earn approval and stronger support from local governments.
Joseph has picked Cebu to be the pilot city for his DVD tour guide project, which aims to create a model presentation that will be translated in various languages and rolled out in other key tourism cities.
He said the initial production has already cost P160,000.
According to Joseph, the DVD project has earned the support of DOT Secretary Ramon Jimenez, who made suggestions on how to bring the project to a “higher stage” such as making a mobile application out of it.
Content is crucial
“The content now is the crucial part,” said Joseph, adding that what they envision is to present Cebu as more than just a leisure destination but also a place with a rich history, culture and tradition.
He said they will partner with various embassies for the translation of the video.
Joseph added they are also starting to gather funding for the project to make the
research and the video much better.
“We hope to get everybody involved, especially the local governments,” he said.
Aside from the DVD tour guide project, Cebu Provincial Government tourism affairs consultant Patria Aurora Roa announced the Province will embark on a lot of community-based tourism projects this year to promote the countryside.
She also announced that Bantayan Island was identified as one of the beneficiaries of the German-funded Promotion for Green Economic Development (ProGED) program.
Tourism stakeholders will be given extensive training and workshops on greening the tourism value-chain, she said. ProGED is a project in partnership with the German government and the Department of Trade and Industry. This project will run until 2015 and is being tested in Cebu and Bohol.
“Bantayan Island’s potential is promising. What remains the problem is the access to easy transportation going to the island,” said Roa.
The Province, she added, will also conduct a series of capability-building activities among the towns’ tourism officers and conduct community-based tour guiding workshops for the locals.